JIM FENTON: Ride from worst to first defied long odds

The Red Sox improved by 28 games after going 69-93 in 2012, then won their third World Series in 10 years.

By Jim Fenton

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Jim Fenton

Posted Nov. 3, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 3, 2013 at 3:13 AM

By Jim Fenton

Posted Nov. 3, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 3, 2013 at 3:13 AM

» Social News

Entering the season simply trying to regroup, the Sox exceeded all expectations

Their 2013 season was supposed to be all about simply getting back on track following rocky times.

The Red Sox had alienated their fan base by kicking away a postseason berth with a brutal September in 2011, and matters were made worse when it was revealed some pitchers drank beer and ate chicken in the clubhouse during games.

Then came the 2012 season, when manager Bobby Valentine lost control early and the Red Sox finished with a 69-93 record, their worst showing in nearly a half-century.

Television ratings were down, fan interest was on the decline and the long sellout streak at Fenway Park was going to end early in the ’13 season.

Contending for a World Series championship?

That was hardly a topic that was brought up in connection with the Red Sox when they reported to spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., in February.

Getting back on track and moving forward after the embarrassing final month of ’11 and the lost season of ’12 were front and center when it came to the Red Sox.

Certainly, they were expected to be a better team than the one that failed to reach 70 wins under Valentine, but improved enough to get through the American League and win the World Series?

That notion didn’t seem logical when new manager John Farrell, back in Boston, where he had been a pitching coach, gathered a team with newcomers Shane Victorino, Jonny Gomes, Mike Napoli, Koji Uehara, Ryan Dempster, Stephen Drew, Mike Carp and David Ross.

Yet the Red Sox did more than get back on track during the 2013 season.

They put together an improbable ride, improving by 28 games during the regular season, then storming past the Tampa Bay Rays, the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals to win the franchise’s third World Series in 10 years.

A team that had limited expectations in the spring is sitting atop the baseball world in the fall, going from worst to first.

“We felt there was a very good core group of players here that finished last year with injuries,’’ said Farrell during his press conference after the title-clinching win Wednesday night. “And a number of returning players that were driven and motivated to rewrite their own story.

“There was a tremendous feeling of embarrassment here a year ago, and guys came into spring training determined, and the players that came in to augment those returning came in as a very strong team.’’

Six position players – David Ortiz, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Dustin Pedroia, Will Middlebrooks, Daniel Nava and Jacoby Ellsbury – returned from a year ago along with pitchers Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront, Franklin Morales, Craig Breslow and Junichi Tazawa. John Lackey, who missed 2012 due to surgery, made a comeback to bolster the staff.

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General manager Ben Cherington made several key offseason moves to give the Red Sox quality throughout the lineup, and Uehara had a season for the ages when he became the closer following season-ending injuries to Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey.

Then there is Ortiz, who carried the Red Sox with his bat. He went 11-for-16 with a .760 on-base percentage in the World Series, posting the second-best average and on-base percentage in the history of the Fall Classic.

Lester had a remarkable postseason and Lackey turned in superb starts during October to give the Red Sox a solid one-two punch on the mound.

It all added up to an unbelievable ride from April to the next-to-last day in October when the Red Sox redeemed themselves from recent down times.

The sellout streak, which hit 794 regular-season games and 820 overall, ended April 10, and attendance was down this season.

It took fans a while to get hooked on a team that was doing surprising things right from the start, going 18-8 in April, but as the summer turned into fall, the Red Sox had won back all of their angry followers.

The Red Sox joined the 1991 Minnesota Twins as the only teams to win a World Series after finishing last the previous season.

They did so in a manner that won’t soon be forgotten, winning back New England baseball fans in rapid fashion.